What is radioactive dating? Radioactive dating is a method of dating rocks and minerals using radioactive isotopes. This method is useful for igneous and metamorphic rocks, which cannot be dated by the stratigraphic correlation method used for sedimentary rocks.What is radioactive dating? Radioactive dating is a method of dating rocks and minerals using radioactive isotopes

Which type of dating can be used on igneous rock?

radiometric dating Of the three basic rock types, igneous rocks are most suited for radiometric dating. Metamorphic rocks may also be radiometrically dated. However, radiometric dating generally yields the age of metamorphism, not the age of the original rock.

Is igneous rock used for absolute dating?

Most rocks that preserve paleomagnetism (igneous) can also be radiometrically dated. Because some sedimentary rocks can also retain paleomagnetism, then by knowing their polarity, we can assign them more reliable absolute dates by correlating them with igneous rocks of the same paleomagnetic chron.

Is igneous rock relative dating?

Obviously, the sedimentary rocks had to be there prior to emplacement of the igneous rocks, and thus they are older than the igneous rocks. Conversely, the igneous rocks are younger than the sedimentary rocks. Inclusions of one rock in another are a further way of determining relative age relationships.

Are igneous rocks the oldest rock on Earth?

Igneous rocks are formed by the cooling and solidification of magma (molten rock in Earths crust ) on or near the surface. The oldest whole rocks found so far date back about 4.28 billion years.

What 3 characteristics are used to classify igneous rocks?

Igneous rocks may be simply classified according to their chemical/mineral composition as felsic, intermediate, mafic, and ultramafic, and by texture or grain size: intrusive rocks are course grained (all crystals are visible to the naked eye) while extrusive rocks may be fine-grained (microscopic crystals) or glass (